TV3 (Sweden)
Channel 3}} | picture format = 1080i HDTV | owner = Nordic Entertainment Group | country = United Kingdom | broadcast area = Sweden | sister names = TV6 TV8 TV10 Viasat Sport | web = | terr serv 1 = Boxer | terr chan 1 = Channel 3 Channel 63 (HD) | sat serv 1 = Viasat | sat chan 1 = Channel 69 Channel 3 (HD) | sat serv 2 = Canal Digital | sat chan 2 = Channel 3 | cable serv 1 = Com Hem | cable chan 1 = Channel 3 Channel 23 (HD) | cable serv 2 = Tele2Vision | cable chan 2 = Channel 3 | cable serv 3 = Canal Digital | cable chan 3 = Channel 3 }} TV3 is a Swedish pay television channel owned by Viasat. It was launched on 31 December 1987 by businessman Jan Stenbeck. The channel was initially broadcast across all of Scandinavia. In 1990, separate Danish and Norwegian feeds were launched. The channel's name refers to its launch at a time when television in Sweden was dominated by the two channels of SVT. History TV3 was launched on December 31, 1987 and was the first commercial channel to broadcast in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The channel was transmitted from London, in order to circumvent legislation that prohibited advertising being broadcast on Swedish television. TV3 was one of the first channels to be broadcast on the Astra 1A satellite when that launched in 1989; in addition, TV3 Sweden became available through cable television in many cities. In 1989, TV3 bought the rights to broadcast the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Wimbledon tennis championships: their purchase of the former created major headlines in Swedish newspapers, as very few Swedes had access to TV3 at the time, whereas the interest in ice hockey in Sweden was high. As a result of this, TV3 made an agreement with SVT to allow them to broadcast the ice hockey matches on a 15 minute delay, in exchange for SVT producing the broadcasts. In 1991, music channel ZTV was launched as a program block on TV3. That same year, TV3 made a profit for the first time. In mid-2006, TV3 began to broadcast six different regional versions, for advertising purposes; this made it possible to broadcast advertising directed to individual regions via the channel, an advertising form that TV4 previously had a monopoly on. On satellite, all six versions are distributed. On other networks, Boxer and their respective cable operators transmit the regional version for the relevant area. Today, the channel is available via satellite (DVB-S/S2 through the owner MTG's Viasat and also at competing Canal Digital, digital terrestrial and cable. Programming TV3 originally showed factual programs, news (originally for 20 minutes, later only for 3 minutes only), reality series, game shows, children's programs and pure commercial programmes. In 2006, it became an entertainment channel, having dropped all daily news programmes. After the launch of digital terrestrial television, bringing with it increased competition, imported films and TV series, have formed the backbone of the channel's output. Previous original programming included reality and game shows like Expedition: Robinson (bought from SVT in 2004) as well as some factual programs. Notable imports *''24: Legacy'' *''Prison Break'' *''ER'' *''Charmed'' *''My Name Is Earl'' *''NCIS'' *''The Nanny'' *''The Simpsons'' *''Weeds'' Sports *''UEFA Champions League'' *''UEFA Super Cup'' Logos File:TV3 Viasat.png|TV3 logo used from 2002 until 2009 Image:TV3 Sweden 2009.png|Current logo, used since 2009 References External links *Official site Category:Television channels in Sweden TV3 Sweden Category:Television channels and stations established in 1987 Category:1987 establishments in Sweden Category:Television channel articles with incorrect naming style